Labour standards vital to trade and sustainability

The AfCFTA was not just about trade efficiency, it was about sustainable development, inclusive growth and decent jobs for all, speakers said. Regional integration should not be at the expense of the rights of workers, who are at the centre of trade.  

Hod Anyigba, Executive Director of the Africa Labour Research and Education Institute and Chief Economist at the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)-Africa, stressed that “trade must serve people, not just profits”. 

He called for stronger labour protections, corporate accountability, and due diligence in AfCFTA implementation, warning that without these safeguards, trade liberalization could lead to informal employment and deteriorating working conditions.

Marva Corley-Coulibaly, Chief of Globalization, Competitiveness and Labour Standards at the ILO, emphasized that good jobs do not happen automatically. 

“Just as we meticulously plan trade, industrial, and investment policies, we must also plan for decent work, not as an afterthought,” she stated. 

While AfCFTA includes some labour provisions, she pointed out that critical gaps remain, particularly in addressing issues like modern slavery, human trafficking, and workplace safety.

 She proposed the introduction of a Trade and Sustainable Development Protocol to ensure that trade translates into decent work and economic justice.

The ILO’s Decent Work Toolkit, which facilitates the examination of labour provisions in trade agreements and the impact of trade policy on labour markets, was mooted as a valuable tool to support private sector trade while promoting decent work.  

Speakers said the AfCFTA labour provisions are not extensive enough and called for the embedding of labour standards in trade agreements, with binding commitments on the ILOs core standards such as freedom of association, elimination of forced labour and other issues.

They also called for more inspections in SEZs to ensure labour standard are adhered to, calling them hotspots of exploitation.